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Why my NRI cousin not buying car in India?

This weekend my cousin brother, who has lived for several years in US, moved back to Mumbai for good. I asked him ‘What Car are you planning to buy?’
He replied ‘None!’

NRI Spending Behavior

After talking further here’s what he explained me. A person who has lived for a few years abroad is tuned to spending and earning situation to that foreign land. Financial conditions from previous countries will continue to influence his or her buying decision for sometime. He is pretty much avoiding to buy anything big.

On further analysis I understood that this behavior pattern is not limited to NRIs. This can also happen to a person who moves within India. Take an example of a family who has lived whole life in Mumbai and decides to move to class B town – say Bhavnagar. If they rush in to buying stuff as soon as they move, they might feel free to spend more then what is necessary.

My cousin finally said that he is going to wait for at-least 12 – 18 months before he even starts to think if he needs Car. Once he has lived for 12-18 months in new location, he will be more tuned to correct buying habit.

By the way, 6 years back, this same cousin, went to US for the first time, didn’t spend 3 dollars at the American Airport to get a luggage Cart. He thought 3 dollars was too much money to spend for a Cart. He had lived in India all his life. His Indian spending pattern made him feel 3 dollars for cart was too much to pay.